Unless you've had your head in a hole, you probably know that the "artist" Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, have finally seen their "The Gates" project come to being in New York's Central Park. It's being hailed as a great work of art, with 7,500 saffron-colored flags hanging from 16-foot-high gates set along 23 miles of the park's footpaths.
Read more about "The Gates" and Christo's other projects in this article on Wired News. There are pictures, too.
My question to you: Do you think this is this art? If so, why?
I maintain that it's not art, it's sensationalism. After watching ABC's NightLine last night, it's fairly obvious that the guy's not all there. Wrapping the Reichstag or a bridge in France in fabric hardly seems artistic to me. And draping a curtain across a canyon? Or thousands of giant umbrellas in California or Japan? It's publicity, not artwork.
If these creations are art, then what about the structures they're based on? Or what about Central Park itself, which along with its Brooklyn cousin, Prospect Park, is entirely sculpted and manmade while appearing to be entirely natural? To me the parks are much more works of art than these gates. If the gates are art, then what about the arrangement of park benches, lightposts, and trashcans that have been there for years?
I know there are readers out there who are bonified artists. Go ahead and weigh in on this. I'm interested in your opinions.
And don't get me wrong. If I were in NYC while these gates were up, I'd make the trip to Central Park to see and photograph them. But only because of their notoriety and novelty.
Posted by JRC at February 12, 2005 11:22 AM | TrackBack